‘Love Bus’ coming to QC, Pasig: 10 units to serve Robinsons Galleria-Eastwood loop
Commuters get to ride for free on the “Love Bus” when 10 units of the electric vehicles start regularly plying selected routes in Quezon City and Pasig City, from Robinsons Galleria to Eastwood City and vice versa, starting on the last week of April or the first week of May.
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chair Don Artes announced this on Tuesday as he led the signing of the agency’s memorandum of agreement for the project with private partners and corporate sponsors at the MMDA head office in Pasig City.
“The Love Buses will arrive in mid-April. So maybe we can launch them this last week of April or first week of May,” Artes said.
Here are the expected specific routes for the Love Bus project:
Eastbound: Robinsons Galleria, Estancia Mall, MMDA, Arcovia, Opus Mall, Arcovia Mall and Eastwood City.
Westbound: Eastwood City, C5–Eastwood Footbridge, C5–Green Meadows Footbridge, C5–Green Meadows Gate, Tiendesitas, C5–Julia Vargas, MMDA, Estancia Mall and Robinsons Galleria.
According to Artes, 10 Love Buses will be deployed to the area, with each one able to accommodate around 30 persons.
Bus schedule
“The buses will travel in a loop. Maybe we can average about five to six trips per bus per day,” he said.
Artes added that the MMDA is planning to operate electric buses on the aforementioned routes from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. daily, depending on the demand.
The initiative, he noted, is important as the electric buses will help “reduce pollution, ease congestion along key routes and provide more comfortable rides for passengers.”
The Love Buses, which were first introduced by the Marcos government in the 1970s, were the first public buses with air-conditioning in the country. Reportedly a project of his mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos, President Marcos Jr. revived the project last year after announcing it in his State of the Nation Address in July.
The new Love Bus units were first deployed to Cebu and Davao in August, followed by Valenzuela City in September.
